Couples Statistics - 2005

2005 APPIC Match Statistics for Couples

February 28, 2005

This year, a total of 32 applicants participated as 16 "couples." Fourteen of these couples had both partners successfully matched to an internship program, while two couples had at least one partner who was not matched.

Following is a specific breakdown of the Match results for the 16 couples based on distance apart:

NUMBER OF COUPLES

DISTANCE APART

10

Same City

3

Different cities, less than 50 miles apart

1

Different cities, 50-100 miles apart

0

Different cities, 100-150 miles apart

0

Over 150 miles apart

2

At least one partner unmatched

INTERPRETATION NOTE: Most couples used the couples match in an attempt to be together during their internship year, and most tended to rank highly those program pairings that are located in the same geographic area. However, it should be noted that some couples had very highly-ranked program pairings that were hundreds or even thousands of miles apart. Thus, if a couple was matched to programs in distant cities, we should NOT assume that this combination was a lower-ranked pairing on their list.

Following are the Match results based on where a program pairing was ranked on couples' Rank Order Lists:

RANK

NUMBER OF COUPLES

1

7

2

2

3

2

4

1

5

0

6

1

7

2

8

0

9

0

10

1

11 to 15

0

16 to 20

0

21 and over

0

INTERPRETATION NOTE: A paired Rank Order List submitted by a couple could have been very lengthy, particularly when a couple chose to submit most or all possible combinations of programs. Some couples had Rank Order Lists that exceeded 100 pairs of programs. One should not directly compare the results above with the results achieved by individual applicants (e.g., because 50% of individual applicants received their first choice, and 44% of couples received their first choice pairing, one should NOT conclude from this data that individual applicants "do better" than couples).